1. Offsite Storage Relocation
at Memorial University
Amanda Tiller-Hackett, Collections Librarian (Humanities)
CAUL Webinar, May, 30, 2018.
Collection Strategies

2. The situation: New Facility…
Since 2007, the library had its own storage and retrieval contract with the facility, Iron Mountain. On Sept. 26, 2017, it was announced that the library would be included in a university-wide contract which was awarded to a new unit, DocuGuard.
Collection Strategies

3. Tasks and opportunities
Library to coordinate a procedure for moving the collection from one storage facility to another. Ideal opportunity to weed!
Collection strategies

4. Initial plan
Create reports of storage holdings which would allow us to make as many decisions beforehand as possible. Filter all materials back to the QEII for review before relocation to new facility. Clear out space in furniture storage area of the library for temporary shelving for the materials as they are returned to the library in batches. Earmark materials for DocuGuard Storage, Discard, or return to main stacks.
Collection Strategies

5. First steps
Wrapping our heads around a complex project involving multiple units:
Form a committee consisting of:
Head, Collection Strategies
Facilities Manager
Head of Serials and Acquisitions
Head of Cataloguing and Metadata
Associate University Librarian, QEII
Task: work on a plan for a small scale pilot to form the basis of the project workflow.
Collection Strategies

6. Collections Subcommittee Formed
Subcommittee of Collection Division to look at Weeding Head, Collection Strategies 1 Humanities, 1 Social Sciences, and 1 Science Librarian Tasks: Look back at “Sins of the Past.” Look into national alternatives such as Downsview (UofT), and consider what we could/should contribute to such an initiative. Consider the coordination of the relocation of specific materials (ex. Government Documents). Attempt some preliminary decisions before boxes arrive.
Collection strategies

7. Offsite Storage materials
Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Library and Marine Institute Library holdings: Approximately 13,000 boxes of low use materials: monographs serials government documents microfilm VHS and other media Archival materials.
Collection Strategies

8. Weeding: Initial concerns and problems
Difficult to know the contents of each box in storage. Some things we think should be in storage (ex. original VHS tapes kept for Copyright compliance) could not be located in Storage. Environmental controls and conditions for archival materials at new facility?
Collection Strategies

9. Other Storage possibilities?
Become part of national conversation about combined/shared storage (ex. Downsview Storage Facility, UofT) Considerations: Greater cost to retrieve items from Offsite Storage than through Document Delivery (ex. Downsview). Better environmental controls at Downsview (for long term preservation) Opportunity to share unique collections on national scale
Collection Strategies

10. January 2018…
Consider what can be moved right away Send materials to DocuGuard, and pull it all back from there for processing? Start with item-level material: Send all boxes of which we know the contents to DocuGuard; send the rest to the library for review.
Collection strategies

11. Environmental concerns…resolved?
Determined that environmental controls at new facility did not meet our standards for the preservation of archival materials. Decided that archival materials would stay at Iron Mountain.
Collection strategies

12. Lessons Learned from “Sins of the Past”…
We had box-level details, but not item-level. Needed more information on the contents of the boxes.
Goal to keep better records.
Don’t rely on circulation statistics alone when sending to offsite storage:
Indexes sent to offsite storage because of low use. Indexes do not circulate.
Many newer editions sent to storage because of lower use than older editions (which stayed in the main stacks).
Volumes broken up because some went to storage and some stayed in the main stacks.
Collection Strategies

13. Current status of relocation…
Boxes for which we have item information (largely monographs) being sent directly to DocuGuard. Box-level materials coming to QEII so that we can document their contents and make weeding decisions. Transfer of item-level materials commenced mid-March. Estimated completion: mid-June 1st batch of box-level materials to be reviewed arriving at the QEII first week of June (1183 boxes of print Government Document materials) Items requested since 2007 brought back to main stacks. What remains are unrequested materials, only.
Collection strategies

14. Procedures for in-Transit items
Request items through Document Delivery New location codes for items in DocuGuard and items in transition.
Collection strategies

15. Thank you!
Amanda Tiller-Hackett, MA, MLIS Humanities Collection Development Librarian Queen Elizabeth II Library Memorial University of Newfoundland
Collection strategies